For Redbirds, it’s Omaha, Omaha!

Let there be no mistake. The Alton High school hockey team is in Omaha, Neb. this week with one goal – to bring home a championship.

A national championship.

“I’m going with the idea that we have just as good a shot at winning as anybody else there,” AHS coach Larry Thatcher said Tuesday. “There will be some excellent clubs there. We will be one of them.”

The Redbirds earned their first berth at the USA Hockey High School National Tournament by advancing to the championship game of the St. Louis area playoffs. They lost a 3-1 decision to Missouri power Oakville, but impressed officials enough that they were given one of the at-large berths.

The Redbirds, who went 20-2-1 during their season, will face Lake Central of St. John, Ind. at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Omaha’s Ralston Arena in their first game. They will play two more pool-play contests before quarterfinals and semifinals are played Saturday. The championship game is set for Sunday.

A total of 32 teams qualified for the nationals.

“This will be the best of the best,” Thatcher said. “I expect to see some excellent hockey this week.”

The Redbirds, who won the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association North Division title, boarded a charter bus at AHS at 2:30 Tuesday afternoon and departed for Omaha.

“This is huge for these kids and for a league,” Thatcher said. “It shows how far the MVCHA teams have come that we would even be considered to compete for a berth like this, much less earn one.”

The Redbirds’ second pool-play game will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Olympic Ice Rink against the North Royalton Bears of Cleveland, Ohio. Their final pool game is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday against Stoneman Douglas High School of Parkland, Fla.

“It’s tough finding out much about the other teams in the tournament,” Thatcher said. “I do know that any team in this tournament is going to be a good team.”

The AHS hockey club had to get into fund-raising mode to pay for the trip to the national tournament. As of Tuesday, some $11,000 of a projected $15,000 had been raised.

“The community and sponsors have been great to us and they deserve thanks,” Thatcher said. “These players work really hard and will represent our area and our league very well, I think.”

Alton which had only its national-qualifier loss to Oakville on its record heading into postseason, ended up finishing second in the MVCHA Class 2A division. The Redbirds lost in three games in the best-of-three league finals to rival Edwardsville. AHS had defeated Edwardsville to advance to the national-qualifying final against Oakville and owned two regular-season victories over the Tigers.

But Thatcher said he thinks the loss to Edwardsville may serve as incentive at the nationals.

“It could be a wake-up,” Thatcher said. “They know that when you reach this point of a season, you have to come to play, to skate hard. If you don’t, you’ll go home.”

In the last official MVCHA statistics report, the Redbirds were led in scoring by Alex Rubin with 14 goals and 18 assists. Teammate and captain Kain Henson had 12 goals and 18 assists, Tommy Byrd 12 goals and 14 assists, Jake Cunningham 10 goals and 12 assists and Jason Steiner 12 goals and 8 assists.

The Redbirds outscored their opposition 112-37 during league play.

Thatcher, a former long-time coach of the SIU Edwardsville hockey team, said through his college-coaching experiences, hockey players who hail from the areas of the Redbirds’ three pool foes will provide a challenge indeed.

“I know there are some excellent kids from northern Indiana and Cleveland,” he said. “And Florida? You know they’ll be tough. Heck, there are probably more Canadians living in Florida now than there are in Canada.”

While the on-ice competition will be the main focus, there will be plenty of other things for the teams and their followers in conjunction with the national tournament, including a chance to view professional sports’ most famous trophy. The NHL’s Stanley Cup will be on display at Ralston Arena from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday.

“This an an experience these kids will never forget,” Thatcher said. “And neither will I.”